One of the major applications of a superconductor is in development of nearly resistanceless wires/tapes that can be used for transmission cables, magnets for MRI, energy storage devices (SMES, micro SMES), current leads and fault current limiters. Current successful approaches such as the powder-in tube (PIT) method for the HTS conductor fabrication techniques relies on the mechanical deformation and successive heat treatments. In PIT tapes and wires, high current-carrying capability is only achieved in thin wires/tapes. However, thin wires/tapes are mechanically weak and difficult to manufacture in long lengths. In order to circumvent this problem, wires/tapes are fabricated in multi-filamentary form. Since these processes rely on drawing, swaging, and rolling, it is important that the powders have fine particle size in order that the powder be well distributed throughout the wire during deformation. Furthermore, 2223 tapes/wires are fabricated from precursor powders which are transformed into 2223 with successive heat treatments and mechanical deformation. In these precursor powders, it is not only important that the powders have fine particle sizes, but also that they be homogeneously mixed and strongly reactive which can be achieved in accordance with this invention. Furthermore, the presence of carbon higher than 200 or 300 ppm is undesirable in tape fabrication processes as it forms bubbles thereby reducing the performance of the tape/wire due to formation of gaseous carbon dioxide.
Further many ceramic materials contain several different oxide constituents in which various ceramic phases are produced by solid-state reactions between constituent oxides during high-temperature sintering. In the event that the individual oxide particles are large and the solid-state reactions are slow, compositional inhomogeneity can result. This results in unwanted phases and chemical gradients within the material which can degrade the desired property. Such problems can be addressed by the use of the highest possible phase precursor powder as well as the use of fine-scale powder particles.